Noah Macey (Linguistics ‘09) reports on a new pilot American Sign Language (ASL) program at Yale, with courses taught by Jessica Tanner. The pilot program begins in the spring, when the university will offer two ASL classes through the Linguistics Department, which petitioned the Language Study Committee last spring for the course’s approval.
Claire Bowern adds an article on the origins of Pama-Nyungan to The Conversation.
A lesson by Claire Bowern on the basics of historical linguistics and the origins of the English language has been turned into a TedEd animation. Watch and listen to the animation to see English has evolved through generations of speakers. (Director: Patrick Smith; Narrator: Addison Anderson.)
Katie Martin (Yale ‘18) published a Slate article called “How ‘Sounding White’ Helps Get You Ahead—on Film and in Real Life”. The piece is about linguistic prejudice and also talks a little bit about the Yale Grammatical Diversity Project, which Katie contributed to.
Emily Finn (Yale ‘09) published a NYTimes article called “How I learned to stop worrying and love linguistics”.
Historical Linguist Claire Bowern was one of the contributing experts on WNYC’s postcast RadioLab, in their “Asking for a Friend” segment. She, along with Wilbur Cross Medalist and Yale Alum Sally Thomason, answered questions about how far back in time one can go to find a word that is unchanged, that would be understandable to people far in the past.
Yale’s Linguistics Department, in conjunction with Yale’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Office of Student Development and Diversity (OGSDD) hosted a free webinar for prospective graduate students. Students and faculty from the department discussed the admissions process, life in the department, research opportunities, and living in New Haven. The webinar was recorded and is now available for later viewing here.
The award “honors faculty members at Convocation for their exemplary qualities as mentors.”
As a Presidential Visiting Fellow, Stephanie has spent the past year at Yale teaching the Mohegan language and raising interest in language revitalization.
The ASL pilot program proves to be a resounding success as all spots in Jessica Tanner’s introductory-level course are filled.
